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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the Buddhist tradition of eating that the Dalai Lama follows?

2. What does Abrams's friend Gordon Wheeler say grief is the reminder of?

3. What is Desmond Tutu's official professional title?

4. What is the Sanskrit word for suffering?

5. What personal story about grief does the Dalai Lama share?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part I, what kind of relationship does the Dalai Lama tell Archbishop Tutu he considers their relationship to be a bit like?

2. In Part II, what distinction does Archbishop Tutu draw between hope and optimism?

3. In Part II, what does Archbishop Tutu advise for people who become frustrated and encounter obstacles to finding joy?

4. In the Introduction, what distinction does Tutu make between joy and happiness?

5. In Part II, what does the Dalai Lama say that stress and anxiety in modern life are often caused by?

6. In Part I, what do the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu agree is necessary for the creation of something beautiful?

7. In Part I, what is one of the ways the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu express their affection for each other?

8. In Part II, what does Archbishop Tutu emphasize about his view on human nature as a whole when bad things happen to him or in the world?

9. In Part II, what is one thought the Dalai Lama thinks people should remember in terms of the world population to stave off loneliness?

10. In Part I, why does Archbishop Tutu wonder how the Dalai Lama is not morose?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following quote from Brother David Steindel-Rast on page 242: "It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy." How does this quote apply to the Dalai Lama's teachings on the relationship between gratitude and joy? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 2

How do you think Douglas Abrams' personal relationship - and friendship - with Archbishop Desmond Tutu affected his perspective and his approach to writing The Book of Joy? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

What distinctions does the Dalai Lama emphasize to ensure that those who forgive past traumas are not harmed again by the very act of forgiveness? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

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